Nearly four million infants are born in the United States every year. Infants are frequently in need of monitoring, especially when they are out-of-sight from their parents or caregivers. Devices such as baby monitors are thus helpful, if not essential, to parents and caretakers in caring for and ensuring the safety of their babies. Traditional baby monitors, however, typically only capture sound and/or video. They fail to monitor a baby's other vital signs and conditions.
On the other side of the age spectrum, aging populations are becoming more prevalent in societies, such as those in the United States, Europe, China, India, and Japan. As of 2012, long-term care service providers (including adult day services centers, home health agencies, hospices, nursing homes, and residential care communities) served approximately 8,357,100 people annually in the United States. Many of these adults who receive long-term care services are also in need of constant monitoring and benefit from devices similar to baby monitors.
Approximately 27.4 billion diapers are used in the United States each year. A common feature in many disposable diapers is a wetness indicator that will react to liquid exposure and visibly change color. The capability of detecting the presence of urine remotely without having to look at the diaper, however, is limited. Also limited is the ability of diapers to detect feces, which may not visibly change the color of a wetness indicator. In addition, the capability of detecting the presence of feces without having to smell the diaper is limited.